Mind-to-mind communication possible, study shows

It may be possible to transmit thoughts from one human to another without the use of spoken or written language, according to new research.

An international group of scientists from the U.S., Spain and France aimed to transmit thoughts between human subjects 5,000 miles apart, in India and France. In the experiment, the researchers used two brain technologies–called an electroencephalogram (EEG) and a robot-assisted and image-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)–which were linked by a computer via the internet.

Four healthy volunteers between the ages of 28 and 50 were recruited, one of whom was the message sender and the other three of whom were the message receivers. The sender was told to think the greetings “hola”–“hello” in Spanish–or “ciao”–“hello” or “goodbye” in Italian. The EEG’s purpose was to pick up the sender’s thoughts, and the robotized TMS served to non-invasively stimulate the brains of the message receivers; the brain stimulations were experienced as flashes of light, which appeared in numerical sequences, which the receivers were then able to decode into messages.

The results of the study, published in PLOS ONE, provides credible evidence that mind-to-mind communication between humans may be possible without the use of language or gestures.

Activating gene could slow aging process

The activation of a particular gene may help slow the aging process in key organs, according to a new study.

Scientists at UCLA examined the effects of activating a gene called AMPK in fruit flies. AMPK is known as an energey sensor in cells that is activated when cellular energy levels are low. The researchers observed that AMPK activation led to an increase in a cellular process in which damaged components are discarded in both the brain and the intestines. This can slow the aging process. They also found that increasing the amount of AMPK in the fruit flies’ intestines increased their lifespan by about 30 percent–from the typical six weeks to about eight weeks.

The findings of the study, published in the journal Cell Reports, suggest that AMPK activation may have implications for humans when it comes to delaying aging and the onset of diseases that commonly occur in older age–including Parkinson’s diseaes, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Sibling bullying ups depression risk

Another reason to be nice to your siblings: University of Oxford researchers say children who are regularly bullied by their siblings have a higher chance of becoming depressed when they’re older.

Researchers asked 7,000 12-year-olds if their siblings say mean things, hit, ignore or lie. At 18, the children had their mental health checked. More than 6 percent of those surveyed had clinical depression scores. More than 9 percent had anxiety and more than 7 percent caused self-inflicted harm during the past year.

Most children did not experience bullying. But of the ones who did, depression, self-harm, and anxiety was twice as likely, with more than 12 percent reporting depression, 14 percent reporting self-harm and 16 percent reporting anxiety.

Girls were more likely than boys to be bullied, especially in large families of three or more children. Older brothers were the most common culprit. On average, sibling bullying was reported to begin at age 8.

While it’s not clear if sibling bullying is the direct cause of depression, the study did show a strong correlation. More research is needed to determine the effects of bullying by siblings.

“Mundane” events can bring unexpected joy later

A new study published in Psychological Science says that events you do as part of your everyday routine may bring you happiness when you remember them in the future.

Harvard Business School researchers had 135 college students make a time capsule in the beginning of summer. They included comments on recent experiences and conversations they had, the last social outing they did, three songs they were listening to, and a section from their final paper. Then they ranked how meaningful the events would be when they read it over later.

Three months later, the student read their time capsules. Turns out the students were much more interested in these simple everyday events than they had anticipated. In fact, they found that they experienced considerable joy upon rediscovering their mundane memories.

The researchers said that the study reinforces the belief that people have too high expectations for special experiences and too low expectations for everyday experiences.

Prediabetes may raise cancer risk

New research has found that risk of developing cancer may be higher in people with prediabetes–a precursor to diabetes characterized by abnormally high blood sugar levels.

Scientists reviewed 16 different studies previously conducted in Asia, the U.S., Europe and Africa that involved about 900,000 participants. They found that individuals who had prediabetes had about a 22 percent higher risk of developing cancer when compared with those without prediabetes. The individuals with prediabetes were 50 percent more likely to develop stomach or colon cancer, 20 percent more likely to develop breast cancer and 60 percent more likely to develop endometrial cancer.

The researchers explained that people with high blood sugar levels have increased resistance to the hormone insulin, which may result in the secretion of certain proteins that promote cancer cell growth. They said that genetic variations may also play a role in a person’s risk of developing both prediabetes and cancer.

The findings, published in the journal Diabetologia, encouraged people with high blood sugar levels to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly in order to lower risk of progression to diabetes, as well as the development of cancer.